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South Korean family disappears after visit to Grand Canyon. Something deadly happened at their last known spot
The family was on their way to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon when they disappeared, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office reportedly said.
A South Korean family reportedly went missing after a visit to the Grand Canyon earlier this month. Jiyeon Lee, 33, her mother Taehee Kim, 59, and aunt Junghee Kim, 54, were vacationing in the US when they mysteriously vanished. They were on their way to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon when they disappeared, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the New York Post.
According to authorities, GPS information from the BMW the family rented last showed the trio on Interstate 40 in Williams, Arizona. The city is around 35 minutes west of Flagstaff, also known as the gateway to Grand Canyon National Park.
Was the family involved in an accident?
Police confirmed that at the same spot, a deadly pileup involving 22 vehicles occurred, during which some of the vehicles were burned beyond recognition. Cops said they do not know if the missing trio were involved in the crash. However, Coconino Sheriff’s spokesman Jon Paxton told ABC News Friday that it was “possible.”
The crash took place during a winter storm on westbound Interstate 40 near milepost 159.5 in Williams, Arizona. Several vehicles were on fire, and some of them even burned for more than 20 hours at “extreme temperatures” on a road covered in snow and ice, the Arizona Department of Public Safety told CNN.
According to a release from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, “The collision initially blocked westbound I-40 in an area with guardrails on both sides and included a jackknifed tractor-trailer, which completely obstructed the interstate. Multiple vehicles, including additional tractor-trailers, failed to properly brake or slow down and collided with the blocking vehicles. Multiple passenger vehicles were rear-ended, pushing them into, and in some cases, underneath crashed tractor-trailers.”
The release added that the collision involved 22 vehicles, including 13 passenger vehicles. “A total of 36 drivers and occupants were involved in the incident, including two fatalities, and 16 injured persons were transported for medical care,” it said.
The two people who died were identified as Juan Beltran Sanchez of Chino Valley, Arizona, and Evelyn Davis of Ganado, Arizona.
The South Korean consulate got in touch with Arizona authorities last week after the family missed their flight home out of San Francisco. The sheriff’s office searched the area, service roads and hospitals for three days. They have now said that they have exhausted all leads.
